Maintaining momentum is essential for keeping up good habits, but sometimes life gets in the way and stops you dead in your tracks. To get back to your old routine, ease your way into things by making the simplest of commitments.

Zachary Sexton at Asian Efficiency recommends you start off by forgiving yourself. It’s okay if you fall off the horse sometimes. What’s important is that you ditch the guilt so you can begin to build up that momentum again. To do that, Sexton suggests you commit to doing just the first part of your habit:

Maybe exercise is a ritual that you want to have implemented in your life. An unexpected even knocks you off the course? That’s okay. You come back and you just do the first part until that ritual comes back in. So maybe instead of going on a 10-mile jog, you just go on a walk by the river.

Keep it easy so you don’t have to try so hard to get back into the swing of things. Want to get back into meditating? Commit to only 30 seconds of meditation a day to start. Want to get your home back to being sparkling clean? Commit to doing just one chore a day. Want to read as much as you used to? Start off with just 20 minutes a day. Soon your habit muscles will kick in and you’ll be back in your old groove in no time. You can learn more helpful tips for restarting positive habits at the link below.